The job marks the third outing in a row for Gervais at the Globes, he was voted in by the HFPA after meeting with NBC official Doug Vaughn.

Of course the question becomes will he retain the edge of last year when his biting one-liners roasting movies and celebrities in the room generated ire in some quarters.

Gervais joked on Twitter that “Be afraid, Hollywood egos, be very afraid. It’s gonna be biblical” and that he “just told Billy Crystal he’d better not use any of my holocaust or pedophile material at The Oscars”.